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Thursday, September 1, 2016

Butterfly Bust

You might recall that recently I'd gone to the D.S. Cole Growers Open House Tour of their greenhouses. Link to previous post. At that time, we were all cordially invited to attend a 30,000 hatch Monarch butterfly release party.

It was held last Sunday at their retail store, Cole Gardens, in Concord, New Hampshire. The hatch had been kept in a small screened tent that held the host plants of butterfly bushes.

The day was very hot, but we were all glad that it hadn't rained for the occasion. There were mobs of people, each of us anxious to see the imagined spectacle of clouds of orange butterflies flying free.

It was disappointing. Even when the two sides of the tent had been zipped open, the butterflies refused to leave their nursery tent with their potted host bushes. They all had Stockholm Syndrome.

Above is the single picture that I took that captured one butterfly, winging upwards above the light grey tent dome. It looks like a small black wedge.
In the future, if Cole Gardens ever does this again, I hope that the workers will gently drag the butterfly bush host plants outside of the tent, one at a time.
We left quickly to avoid the stupendous traffic snarl in the parking lot. Everybody had their camera out as we were escaping. Still, it was fun!

Thank you, Cole Gardens, for bringing us all together to witness the event.

On a more quilty note, I stayed indoors with the AC through another stifling hot Friday to trim my "Nurture" quilt. Here it is before trimming.

You can clearly see the mistake we made on the orientation of the batting when we loaded the quilt onto the longarm, EEEEK!
That narrow band of white in the foreground is the "batting-that-just-made-it."

And, conversely, as you can see above, there are billows of extra batting left on the sides, LOL!

Nevermind, if it had run out, we would've just slipped in a supplementary strip of batting and quilted over it. At any rate, with rest breaks in between each side, I got it all trimmed.

I loved the way this quilting came out with my loop de loops. It was very even and flowing, if I do say so myself.

I'd thought that I was doing a random movement, but as I got into a working rhythm, a pattern somehow emerged.

I must've been in my Right Brain!

Next up was to make up some solid toast-colored binding for "Nurture."

While I have yet to sew the binding onto the front of the quilt, I can show you just why I haven't tackled that yet.
Here's the work in progress on my trusty vintage White Sewing Machine as I continue to sew more Starstruck units. I'm happily sewing, but the piecing is in the way.

If I can clear Starstruck aside temporarily, then I can sew on the binding. Starstruck is a free Bonnie K. Hunter pattern, thanks, Bonnie! Link.

One break in the heat has been most gratefully received by Miss Tanner, who takes turns with her brother to enjoy the cat bed.

Linking up to A Quilted Passion. Link.
Also linking up to Whoop Whoop Fridays. Link.
And to Oh Scrap. Link.

My husband, Felix and I are still best friends after 40+ years of marriage. Although we have no kids, we spoil our dog rotten on our 20+ acre hobby farm in beautiful downtown Gilmanton Iron Works, New Hampshire, U.S.A.

8 comments:

Well, that's quite a letdown when you're expecting a cloud of butterflies... Better luck next year!Enjoy the binding. I always like that part of the process, but since I never seem to finish anything I don't get to experience it very much!

Must have been rather embarrassing for the store to have crowds of anxious watchers and nothing to see. I think your idea of bringing out the bushes is a good one. Stockholm Syndrome--had to chuckle. Only you would have thought of that! : )Oh, Nurture is so inviting, just like the fabric name--even though it contains no red! *LOL*We are supposed to get a cool down on Sunday and slip from the high 90s down to the 70s. Can't wait for that!!

Well, if I was one of 30,000 butterflies in the little tent I would have Stockholm's Syndrome too. So sorry for the viewers though. A few years ago our Coastal Botanical Gardens in Boothbay had a wonderful special exhibit of "pollinators". I have never seen so many butterflies and bees in one place on so many different plants. It was beautiful. I love your Nurture quilt. That is such a beautiful line and I love the name as well. Enjoy the coming of Fall. Not a moment too soon I say!

A friend of mine is a monarch steward. She has come to meetings with a newly-emerged monarch clinging to her hair (waiting for its wings to dry). I search milkweed to try to see the cocoons, with no luck.

The Nurture quilt is a real beauty. The colors, including the soft reds, blend so well. The loops are perfect for it, giving it movement and a soft feel. Congrats on a job well done (almost). Binding does not count in my book. Have a fun week! Maybe you will see some monarchs around your place.

About Me

My husband, Felix and I are still best friends after 40+ years of marriage. Although we have no kids, we spoil our dog rotten on our 20+ acre hobby farm in beautiful downtown Gilmanton Iron Works, New Hampshire, U.S.A.